Ireland will hold a referendum on May 25, 2018, on whether or not to liberalise the country's strict constitutional position on abortion.
The move came after both houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin passed the legislation required to hold a referendum on the contentious issue.
Citizens will be asked whether they want to repeal the Eighth Amendment of Ireland's Constitution, a provision that makes abortion illegal in all but exceptional circumstances.
The total electorate currently stands at around 3.2 million.
A complete ban on abortion was only lifted five years ago for cases where the mother's life was in danger.
That move fuelled calls to give voters under the age of 50 their first say on more comprehensive reform.
The Eighth Amendment of the Irish constitution recognises the equal right to life of the unborn and the mother.
Currently, a woman convicted of having an illegal termination faces 14 years imprisonment.
Voters will be asked if they wish to repeal an amendment to the constitution that was inserted following a 1983 referendum to enshrine the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child and to instead enable parliament to set the laws.
Anti-abortion protestors from around the Ireland gather in Dublin for the All-Ireland Rally for Life (Save the 8th). Source: Getty
"After weeks and months of politicians debating the issue, now the people of Ireland get the chance to have their say," Health Minister Simon Harris said after the date was announced.
"My message is if you can no longer accept thousands of women every year going abroad to access terminations, this is your time to right that wrong," said Harris, who will campaign for a change in the law.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar last year won leadership of the governing centre-right Fine Gael party after campaigning on same-sex marriage and liberalising abortion laws in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.
The election of Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay leader, was seen as a watershed moment on the socially conservative island.
The referendum will take place exactly three months before the visit of Pope Francis, the first visit to the country by a pontiff since John Paul II went there in 1979.
Abortion Rights campaigners, (Left to Right) Adam Murray, Lute Alraad and Morgan Maher, protest outside Leinster House in Dublin. Source: Getty
There have already been five referendums related to the issue, the first in 1983 (mentioned above).
Women are free to travel abroad for abortions and thousands do so every year, mainly to England.
Amnesty International welcomed the announcement, calling it "a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Ireland to put in place laws which respect the #humanrights of women & girls".
Leaders from the Church of Ireland, an Anglican denomination, urged voters "to think through the issues involved carefully".
"There is, for Christians, a very clear witness in the Scriptures that all human life, including before physical birth, has a sacred dignity in the eyes of God," they said.
